Heather Zurich

Following the 2016-17 collegiate basketball season, Zurich left the ranks of coaching and pursued a professional career in the private sector.

In June 2015, Zurich joined the staff of Stephanie Oliver as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Long Island University-Brooklyn in New York. Coach Oliver was quoted as saying:

Zurich assisted Coach Oliver in leading the Long Island University-Brooklyn Blackbirds in the 2015-16 season to a 9–21 overall record (7–11 in Northeast Conference play) with a 7th-place finish in conference play.

A native of Montvale, New Jersey, Zurich attended Pascack Valley High School located in northern Bergen County. As a senior, Zurich earned a spot on the Star-Ledger, The Record and Associated Press All-State First Teams while averaging 19.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. She finished her high school career with 1,798 career points and led Pascack Valley to a four-year record of 106–9 and four league titles. In her senior year in 2005, she led Pascack Valley to a 29–2 mark, winning the Group 2 state title and advancing to the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions. As a junior, Zurich averaged 18 points per game and was a participant at the 2004 adidas All-America Camp. She was named to the Associated Press All-State Third Team, The Record All-Region First Team and the Star-Ledger All-County First Team.

With her career winding down, Zurich maintained that she made the right choice coming to Rutgers. She may have played more minutes elsewhere (she averaged 22 minutes over her career), but she wouldn't have enjoyed the same amount of success. Rutgers was 99–31 with four NCAA Tournament appearances—including a Final Four run—in Zurich's four years.

I knew my role, and it has never bothered me. I came here because I wanted to challenge myself. As long as I'm a part of this team, the name on the back (of the jersey) doesn't matter – it's the name on the front.

In the post-season, Zurich helped lead the team to a 2–3 post-season record and a position in the semi-finals where the team lost to the ProBuild Lions. She finished first in scoring (72) and second in rebounding (37) while recording 2 games with double-digit scoring and rebounding. She accomplished individual game highs of 22 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 46.0% from the floor, 60.0% from the 3-point arc and 94.4% from the free-throw line. In the final game of the opening series against Wereldtickets.nl, Zurich hit the game-winning three-point basket at the buzzer.

Zurich's third season assisting at UC Santa Barbara was a tough one for the Gauchos, falling to an 8–22 overall record (3-14 in Big West Conference play) with an 8th-place finish in conference play.

In her fourth and final season assisting at UC Santa Barbara, the Gauchos had a difficult and disappointing season with a 2–27 overall record (2-14 in Big West Conference play) with a 9th-place finish in conference play.

Good morning, I am Heather Zurich; A sophomore and a proud member of the Rutgers women's basketball team. This week and last we should have been celebrating our accomplishments this past season; many of the media here, may not realize my team started the season 2-4, we were at the lowest of lows, Coach Stringer called us her worst defensive team ever; but we- the ten of us here- , prevailed, we fought, we persevered and most of all, we believed in ourselves. We won 22 of 25 games to finish the season, before falling to Tennessee in the national championship game. .. We won the Big East championship along the way, the first ever and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. We know we shocked a lot of people along the way, but this team did not settle for just showing up- we reached what many only dream about – the NCAA title game. But all of our accomplishments were lost …. Our moment was taken away- Our moment to celebrate our success, our moment to realize how far we came on and off the court as young women; we were stripped of this moment by the degrading comments by Mr. Imus last Wednesday. What hurts the most about this situation is Mr. Imus knows not one of us personally; he doesn't know Mat is the funniest person you will ever meet; Kia is the big sister you never had but always wanted; and Piph would be an unbelievable lawyer someday. These are my teammates, my family. And we were insulted and yes, we are angry. Worst of all, my team and I did nothing to deserve Mr. Imus nor Mr. McGirk's [sic] deplorable comments. Our families are upset and with good reason; instead of enjoying our first day off in months to celebrate Easter with our families, this was the topic of conversation. We attend the eighth oldest institution of higher education in the country and not to mention, one of the most difficult academically. We ten are simply put --student-athletes. But instead of attending study hall this morning, I address you about something that should never have taken place. I am extremely proud of my teammates – I am proud when we walk through an airport on the way to or from a road trip; dressed alike, in Rutgers gear with pressed pants and nice shoes. The ten of us, love getting dressed up for banquets and I believe we present ourselves well – both on and off the court; even though Mr. Imus seemed to think differently. But then again, he knows not one of us. Thank you for your time.

In her second season at UC Santa Barbara, Zurich assisted Coach Mitchell in leading the Gauchos in the 2012–13 season to a 16–17 overall record (11–7 in Big West Conference play) with a fourth-place finish in conference play. The Gauchos earned an invitation to the WNIT post-season tournament where they lost in the first round to San Diego State University.

In May 2011, Zurich hired on as a full-time assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara in California. Newly hired women's basketball coach Carlene Mitchell assembled her coaching staff by hiring a pair of highly regarded assistants whom she used to coach at Rutgers.

Zurich assisted Coach Mitchell in leading the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the 2011–12 season to a 17–16 overall record (8–8 in Big West Conference play) with a 6th-place finish in conference play and a Big West Conference Tournament Championship. The Gauchos earned an automatic bid to the post-season NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round to the eventual national champion, Baylor University.

In 2010, Zurich's state championship game effort was deemed by The Record as the Moment of the Decade. The Record described the moment:

In 2010, Zurich announced that she would take a job as an assistant coach for the Wagner Seahawks, a team from New York.

Zurich assisted Coach Mikalauskas in leading the Wagner Seahawks in the 2010–11 season to a 12–17 overall record and 5–13 record in the Northeast Conference.

In 2009 at the conclusion of her collegiate career, Heather Zurich signed a professional contract with Autocad Amazone Leidsche Rijn of the Dames Eredivisie in The Netherlands and was represented by Eric Wiesel of LBM Management.

During the regular season, Zurich helped lead the AutoCAD Amazone Leidsche Rijn team to a 16-13 record and a fourth-place finish in the Dames Eredivisie in The Netherlands with a 15–11 divisional record. She finished second on the team in scoring (12.2 ppg), rebounding (9.9 rpg), steals (85) and blocked shots (18) while recording 10 games with double-digit scoring and rebounding. Zurich averaged nearly a double-double with 12.2 ppg and 9.9 rpg. She accomplished individual game highs of 21 points, 16 rebounds, 10 steals, 6 assists and 3 blocks while shooting 44.0% from the floor, 33.3% from the three-point arc and 76.8% from the free-throw line. On November 14, 2009, Zurich recorded a triple-double when she put up 16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 steals in a victory over The Jugglers. During a pre-season game in Luxembourg, Zurich broke her nose (requiring surgery) and had to sit out the first game of the regular season. As she had to during her college career when she broke her nose, she was forced to wear a mask for a number of games until fully healed. At mid-season, Zurich was selected to participate in the Dutch All Star Gala as a member of the Team World Stars that challenged the Team Dutch Stars and scored 11 points.

At the conclusion of her 2009–10 professional season in The Netherlands, Zurich retired from professional basketball to begin a career in coaching. Zurich was quoted in a text message:

In spring 2009, Zurich graduated from Rutgers University with a 3.273 GPA and a degree in Sport Management and Exercise Science. Zurich completed two semesters towards her master's in Business Administration during her time as a graduate assistant coach at Wagner College.

Zurich's play during her four years of participation in the New Jersey Tournament of Champions was recognized in 2008 by The Star Ledger when she was named to the All-Group 2 Tournament of Champions First Team. Looking back at Zurich's overall play during her four years at Pascack Valley, The Star Ledger wrote:

As a junior, Zurich played in 33 games including 24 as a starter. She averaged 24.8 minutes, 4.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. For the season, she shot 42.9 percent from the floor, 30.2% from 3-point range and 66.7% from the free-throw line. Zurich posted a career-high 16 points at Cincinnati on January 22, 2008 going 7-of-13 from the field. Zurich started five of the season's last six games, including three NCAA Tournament contests. Zurich suffered a hairline fracture her left orbital bone in the first half of the season opener against Standford and wore a protective face guard for six weeks. Zurich's streak of 33 consecutive starts came to an end at the Army game in December due to flu-like symptoms.

As a sophomore, Heather Zurich started 33 of the Scarlet Knights' 36 games on the season, including the last 27 straight. Zurich helped lead the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA Final Four and the championship game where they were defeated by the University of Tennessee. She averaged 4.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game and shot 42.2% from the field for the year. She finished the year with a 37.0% shooting average from three-point range and a 75% shooting average from the free throw line. During the NCAA Tournament, Zurich averaged 6.5 points per game while shooting 51.6% from the floor. She scored at least two points in every game that season excluding four. She also compiled a 17-game streak of consecutive scoring games. Zurich had a (then) career-best 6 rebounds on three occasions. She had a (then) career-best 13 points against Villanova on February 17, 2007. Over the first three games of the NCAA Tournament, she shot 10-of-15 (.667) from the field. Zurich played 895 minutes on the season (22.0 minutes per game average), compared to 80 total minutes the previous season.

Following the conclusion of Zurich's sophomore year, the Rutgers women's basketball team was drawn into a controversy not of their own doing. The shock-jock personality Don Imus used a slur against the women of the team just days after their loss in the NCAA Final Four championship game in April 2007. On April 10, 2007, the Rutgers women's basketball team held a press conference and Zurich was one of its spokespersons. Zurich spoke from the heart when she said:

In the 2005 Group 2 state championship (Zurich's senior year) she made 9 of her 11 shots in the second half, nailed all 10 of her free throw attempts, scored 25 of her team's 36 second-half points and reached a new career high for points in a game. Coach Jeff Jasper stated:

Heather Zurich played in 20 games for the Scarlet Knights her freshman year, making one start. She averaged 1.1 points and 0.5 rebounds per game. Zurich made her collegiate debut against North Florida November 25, 2005, at the Junkanoo Jam, scoring two points in five minutes of play. She made her first start January 14, 2006, against Seton Hall. She had season highs of 5 points and 3 rebounds in 10 minutes of action against Old Dominion on December 5, 2005. She completed the season shooting 34.6% from the field and 30.0% from three-point range.

Heather N. Zurich (born October 23, 1987) is a former college basketball coach and former college and professional basketball player. Her last position in coaching was as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Long Island University Blackbirds women's basketball team of Brooklyn, New York. Zurich completed her college basketball career with the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights women's basketball team in 2009. The Montvale, New Jersey, native saw action in 14 NCAA Tournament games over her college career, including two regional finals, a Final Four and the program's first national championship game. Zurich contributed to a 102–34 record for Rutgers during her four-year stay in Piscataway. In the 2009–10 season, Zurich played overseas for Autocad Amazone Leidsche Rijn of the Dames Eredivisie in The Netherlands.

In her second season and last season assisting at Long Island University-Brooklyn, the Blackbirds had a 6-23 overall record (5-13 in Northeast Conference play) with a 9th-place finish in conference play.